Well, the Southern Hemisphere International Rugby season is underway. I come from a sporting mad family and this is my favorite time of the year by far. I was wondering that since it is a global sport if there are any other members who are mad on the sport too.

Let the carnage commence

 

I think the Wallabies are going through a rebuilding phase right now but they have the bones of a very good side. They just need to gel and a bit of luck to go their way and they will be back on top of their game again mate

 

my perspective as an average american sports fan is that rugby is on the climb.

"they" made me play rugby in high school and that is one tough game. and i'm viewing it from the experience of being an ex D1 college football player.

my understanding is that the sport enjoys immense popularity in NZ. Go Blacks! Originals!(is that the correct nomanclature, Scruts?) hehehe

 

That's very cool Citizen and yes, it's our No.1 sport and go blacks or All Blacks is our chant. When I was at high school our PE teacher was an American who taught us to play American football (badly) I can see why they pad up and use helmets when you can be hit from any direction.

I did hear that college rugby was on the rise in the US a while ago. I've always thought that if it caught on there you would become a real force in the game.

 

Rugby still strong in Scotland, played myself for as long as possible.
No predictions for our national team this season, we are becoming pretty good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

 

Gavin Hastings is one of the true statesmen of the game. I think the switch to professionalism has been detrimental to some areas like Scotland, Wales and Ireland because the English club competition robs the best players the domestic game. In saying that Wales and Ireland played way above expectations at the last world cup and Wales were unlucky not to have made the final IMO. They were robbed by a bum call from the ref against France

 

100% agree regarding professionalism, in our local club I even objected to the supply and laundry of kit but reckon I was proved correct - it was the thin end of the wedge.

 

Yes the clubs have suffered here too. The worst thing is that the top players never even play for their clubs anymore so the club and supporters miss out on what that level of player has to offer the up and coming guys. Our local club makes a big deal of nurturing the kids and gets the whole community behind them which is cool

 

American Sports Illustrated did a front pager fairly recently on NZ Rugby. (My mom has gotten me a yearly subscription every Christmas for the last 25 years - go mom!)

The article devoted a lot of effort in trying to convey the cultural significance of the game for NZ'ers. I learned about the the "Originals" and the Grand Prix, etc. reminded me of the importance of something like say the Hibs and Celts for many working class Scots. Or, the NY Yankees for us Bronx guys.
there was also a lot space devoted to the excitement as well as some fear and loathing resulting from all the big money suddenly being invested in the game. some pratfalls for the sudden celebrity rugby players, stuff like that...

 

Yea it's a bit of a religion for some here but we're a tiny country. The only other countries as mad on the game as us are the South Africans and the Welsh. I still remember being woken up at 3am as a kid to watch NZ play Sth Africa as a little kid. There's a lot of history between the teams and some of them are real grudge matches.

Forgive the cheesy music in this but some of the tries in this video are unreal.

 

Could be worse mate, imagine a drunken Kiwi dickhead ringing you in the middle of the night trying to sell you a re-dialed Seamaster with the wrong bracelet on it I remember getting the same treatment from Aussies when they were beating us. Not sure what all the hate on Cooper is though.

 

I wouldn't be ringing you to show off after that. The Wallabies were aggressive right from the start. Next game will be WW3, just like the old days

Love it!!!

 

You just made me spill my beer everywhere. He must be a raving nut bar